ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent criticism of Pakistani diplomats created uproar among the diplomatic community as the Foreign Office, on Thursday, said that it is an “important national security institution” and the “first line of defence”.
The prime minister, who later retracted from his criticism of the Pakistani diplomats, after the diplomats lodged complaints with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, especially when he lauded the performance of Indian diplomats compared to Pakistani diplomats.
In response to a question during his weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri stated: “We, as an institution, take immense pride in our professionalism, dedication and commitment to public service.”
“Foreign Office is an important national security institution and the ‘first line of defence’…The contributions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in furthering Pakistan’s core national interest such as projecting the Kashmir cause have been widely acknowledged,” he said.
“You would have seen the remarks by Prime Minister of Pakistan in this regard,” he continued in response to the question. He said that Pakistan’s Foreign Office and the Foreign Services of Pakistan have a “rich and proud” history of national services.
He said that serving Pakistani community is a key function of our diplomatic missions all over the world.
He said that overseas Pakistanis are our greatest asset and their role in national development is indispensable.
“The government of Pakistan attaches high importance to the welfare of overseas Pakistanis. There is zero tolerance for any lapse in the public service in this regard,” he said, adding that the foreign minister himself oversees working of all diplomatic missions, particularly with regard to the services being provided to the Pakistani community.
He further stated that Pakistan’s missions abroad have standing instructions to extend maximum facilitations to Pakistani community in their respective jurisdictions.
He further pointed out that in the two yearly review of the Prime Minister’s Citizens’ Portal, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stood out as the “most responsive” towards complaints registered on the portal.
“Public satisfaction of this ministry’s performance is a matter of immense pride for the Foreign Service Officers. To further improve public service delivery, a taskforce has recently been created under the foreign secretary,” he added.
A new complaint portal is also being established in the Foreign Minister’s Office for prompt redressal of public complaints, he said, adding that the MOFA will continue to serve the nation to the best of its ability and in line with the directions of the prime minister.
On the situation in Palestine, he reiterated Pakistan’s strong condemnation of the continued Israeli aggression against Palestinian people and urged UN Security Council (UNSC) to initiate steps to hold Israel accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity, and to implement relevant UN resolutions to resolve the Palestine issue.
He pointed out that in clear violation of all humanitarian norms and international human rights laws, Israel has staged series of heavy air strikes in Gaza, attacked innocent civilians in and outside Al-Aqsa Mosque, forced evictions, and imposed restrictions on fundamental freedoms of the Palestinian people.
He said that the indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli forces has resulted in deaths and injuries to a large number of innocent Palestinians, including women and children.
About the OIC’s role on Palestine, he said that the safeguard and protection of Al-Quds Al-Shareef and rights of Palestinians is the raison d’être of the OIC.
He said that the recently held emergency extraordinary meeting of the OIC Executive Committee at the level of Foreign Ministers strongly condemned the illegal and barbaric actions of Israel killing the civilian Palestinian population, besides adopting a resolution unanimously.
“We firmly believe that being the second largest international organization, OIC has a role to play, and it should be playing that role,” he added.
About Pakistan’s Palestine policy, he said that Pakistan has a principled and longstanding position on the Palestine issue, as it has always been at the forefront of the countries supporting the just cause of the Palestinian people.
“We have always unequivocally condemned the Israeli brutalities against unarmed Palestinian people at international fora,” he said, adding that Pakistan was among the first countries to recognise the Palestinian statehood in 1988.
Since the current escalation in Palestine, he said that Pakistan is at the forefront of diplomatic efforts to highlight the worsening situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.
As part of Pakistan’s intensive diplomatic outreach efforts to mobilise international support, he added that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qurshi is currently in New York to participate in the UN General Assembly meeting on the Palestine issue.
“We hope the special meeting of the UN General Assembly will help send a strong message on behalf of the OIC to the international community to help end the Israeli aggression and to take concrete steps to find a solution to the Palestinian issue,” he added.
Chaudhri pointed out that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute as well as the Palestine issue are the longest unresolved issues on the agenda of the UNSC.
He said that Pakistan continues to condemn the Israel’s deliberate and systematic assault against Palestinian, its violation of the sanctity of holy places, its continued policy of expansion of illegal settlements, its forced evictions of Palestinians and demolition of their homes as well as targeting of journalists and international media outlets in the occupied Palestinian territories.He also pointed out that Pakistan also participated in the opening meeting of the UNSC held on 16 May 2021, in the backdrop of escalating situation, adding that Pakistan deplored Israel’s use of indiscriminate and disproportionate force, including aerial bombing as well as destruction of civilian infrastructure.
“We urged the Security Council to fulfil its Charter obligations, initiate steps to hold Israel accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity and above all, realise the full implementation of relevant UN resolutions,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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